settlement

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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh today once again urged Apple and Samsung's chief executives to meet in hopes of settling the case.

"If you can have your CEOs have one last conversation, I'd appreciate it," Koh told legal counsel for both companies in court here today.

Apple and Samsung had previously met ahead of the trial to discuss settlements, court-mandated talks that did not lead to a resolution.

The plea came on the heels of Koh telling both companies that they should narrow their claims. Apple, for instance, is currently … Read more

Just as Google was working to settle the antitrust investigation launched by the European Union, the governing body has tacked on one more demand: change your mobile services too.

According to the Financial Times, EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia saved this final stipulation until settlement talks were already well into process. It's unclear what exactly Google needs to change but if the search giant doesn't concede it could lead to the settlement talks falling apart.

The EU's antitrust probe was opened in 2010 when European regulators asked the company to explain how it ranked search results and … Read more

Stratfor has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed against the global intelligence firm after hackers affiliated with Anonymous stole subscriber data from its computers last year, Reuters reported today.

The settlement -- which calls for Stratfor to offer subscribers one month of free access to its service, a digital version of a book, and credit-monitoring service, in addition to paying attorney fees -- is expected to cost the company about $1.75 million, according to the settlement given preliminary approval by Judge Denis Hurley in U.S. federal court in New York.

Stratfor does not admit any "wrongdoing, … Read more

If a judge approves Facebook's settlement of a class-action lawsuit regarding "sponsored stories," the social network will give users more control over the advertising tool, which features users' profile photos and other information in ads for businesses and products the users have "Liked."

Reuters reported today that the settlement agreement includes giving users the ability to determine what, if any, user information can be featured in ads, and adding new language to Facebook's guidelines informing users of sponsored ads, according to court documents filed Wednesday. TechCrunch reported that user opt-outs will apparently apply on … Read more

Apple and a number of other technology companies have settled with licensing company SimpleAir, bringing a close to a two and a half year old patent infringement complaint.

In a release today, SimpleAir said it had settled with Apple, and entered into a confidential agreement to license its patents, which relate to mobile notifications.

Apple was one of 11 companies named in a complaint filed on Sept. 23, 2009, in the U.S. federal district court for the Eastern District of Texas. Also included was Research In Motion, which requested a re-examination of two of SimpleAir's patents last May. … Read more

Apple and HTC need to make up.

At least, that's according to the U.S. District Court of Delaware, which ordered the two companies to discuss a potential settlement. The talks would be moderated by Judge Sherry Fallon, Foss Patents reported today.

The order comes after two key HTC smartphones, the Evo 4G LTE and the One X, were barred from coming into the U.S. as a result of the companies' ongoing dispute. The embargo was related to a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling from last year over a data tapping patent, which HTC was supposed … Read more

Myspace and the Federal Trade Commission have reached a settlement over charges that the social network let advertisers access user information without first asking for permission.

As part of the settlement, Myspace will implement a new privacy program that requires "independent privacy assessments" and runs for the next 20 years.

The original issue stemmed from a behavior that gave advertisers access to Myspace users' Friend IDs, unique identifiers that linked to user accounts on the service. The FTC alleged that Myspace was breaking its own privacy policy by not alerting users about the behavior, or asking for their … Read more

An end to what has become an ugly, complicated, and costly court battle between Apple and Samsung could be in sight.

The two companies plan to meet out of court to discuss a possible settlement to their legal fracas, which has centered on intellectual property.

In a court order issued today -- relayed by intellectual-property blog FOSS Patents -- U.S. District Court judge Lucy Koh referred the two companies to a magistrate judge settlement conference that will take place within the next 90 days.

According to the referral, both Samsung's and Apple's CEOs will be at the … Read more